1. Object of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device intended for performing the extraction of a submerged rope used to moor a boat; and which has the aim of permitting adjustment of the height at which the rope is located above the level of water when its extraction is performed.
The invention is applied in the nautical sector in all manner of boats or other objects capable of floating and which have to be moored.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a water hose alongside the tip of the rope, in such a way that, at the same time as providing a means for mooring the boat, a water supply point is also provided at a height that can be adjusted above the level of water.
2. State of the Art
Nowadays, most boats moor in a port via their two ends, one of the ends being moored to the dock or wharf with one or more ropes and the other being moored with one or more ropes that are tied to a mooring post in the sea bottom of the port (concrete block or other securing element). In this regard, devices are known which comprise an inflatable element connected to the rope, which is fixed to the sea bottom via a mooring post.
In addition, the inflatable element is connected to a compressor by means of a flexible line in order to inflate it or deflate it at will, in such a way that when it is deflated it is resting on the sea bottom together with the rope, while when it is inflated the rope floats to the surface with its end in the air, such that it can be grasped from a boat in order to be tied.
In this regard, a German patent with publication number DE-3432868 and a European patent with publication number EP-0502219 can be cited, which describe a device of the stated characteristics, in which the rope consists of a chain that is attached to the buoy from which the rope emerges, and which present the drawback of not permitting any adjustment to the height at which the rope is located above the surface of the water, since the adjustment of that height makes it easier to perform the operation of grasping the rope in order to moor the boat.
Mention can also be made in this respect of European patent with publication number EP-1314641, which describes a device similar to the above, but with the particular feature that the chain for retaining the buoy is different from the mooring rope and in this case it is the mooring rope that is fixed to the buoy. This document also does not describe that the height at which the rope is located above the surface of the water can be adjusted.
American patent with publication number U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,990 can also be mentioned, which provides for a rigid structure that is tied directly to the mooring post and to the buoy to which is incorporated a mooring element for the boat, which means that this case too also presents the drawbacks already mentioned for the previous documents.
Finally, the existence can be mentioned of patent documents with application numbers U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,806 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,077,614, in which the buoy is attached to a rigid bar which projects above the level of the water in order to make it easier to grasp the rope, but in this case the buoy cannot be inflated or deflated and, moreover, it is not possible to carry out an adjustment in the height at which the rope has to be located with regard to the level of the water.
Another problem presented by this type of device consists of the fact that, as the rope is submerged in the water, the mud or sludge deposited on the sea bottom makes the rope dirty, so that, when the user performs the mooring, he gets his hands and the boat dirty and therefore then has to wash the dirt off. To do this, the user goes to a hose located on the dock or wharf, which on some occasions is close to the boat and on other occasions is far away, and he has to carry the hose as far as the boat in order to reach the mooring zone where the dirt is. This means that the user in addition dirties everything he touches and, after having performed the cleaning, he has to gather up the hose which, apart from the inconvenience that this entails, also represents a risk of accident since, when carrying out the cleaning, the floor becomes wet and there is a risk of slipping when it comes to gathering up the hose. None of the cited documents manages to overcome this problem.